Valve assembly



VALVE ASSEMBLY 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 2, 1947 z m 1 m m m w a 0 a 2 H w 4 5 -ul Q A Sept. 23, 1952 H. C. GRANT, JR

VALVE ASSEMBLY 3 Shuts-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 2, 1947 INVENTOR. flame) ,C. GMN R- BY ATTORNEY Sept. 23, 1952 GRANT, JR 2,611,577

VALVE ASSEMBLY Filed Dec. 2, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

f/flmr C. Gmwr, J32. BY

A T TORNBY Patented Sept. 23, 1952 UNITED STATE s PATENT OFFICE.

(Cl. 25-1.l02).

4 Claims. 11

Thisinvention relates: to improvements valve assemblies, and; is particularly directed to the; type of valves. generally known as direction valves employed in systems for discharging: medium underpressure to selected points of use.

The present invention is particularly adapted to-be utilized in connection with fire extinguish;-

ing systems forai-rcraft, which systems comprise 8-.SO1IIG62OI fire: extinguishing medium under pressure, and a plurality of: distribution conduits, controlled: by direction valves. for conductingthe medium to. one or more poin s 01 us de ermined by theavalve or valves selected iorop era-.v tion.

.Heretofore, in such systems the direction valvesemployed have been either of the piston operated or of the electrically operated stop valve type for preventing the discharge-of the medium through the, discharge or distribution conduits until the selected valve is opened. Valves of the pistonoperated type require the full pressure of the medium on the piston to effectopening of the valve, and the electrically operated type requires a solenoidor other electrical device to effect opening of the valve. While such valves have been found generally satisfactory in marine and in some industrial installations, they have not been satisfactory for aircraft installations for several reasons, particularly because the operating force necessary to open the valves against the pressure of the medium requires devices of excessive size and weight. In such. systems also, wherein the piston, operated or electrically operated stop valves are employed, a separate valve is required for each discharge or distribution conduit.

Ac'cor-olingly, one of the objects of the present invention resides in the provision of a valve assein'bly, for use in systems of the character indi cated, which efiectively and eihciently overcomes the disadvantages of prior valve assemblies employedjinsuch systems. I

Another object is the provision of a valve assembly wherein the valve operating forces are reduced to a, minimum .with a resulting reduc valve assembly which, is of: rugged construction;

simple and inexpensive to manufacture; and

whichrequires, a minimum or maintenance. and

r p-am Other and further objectsof the present: in vention will bev manifest; from the following de-, scription and: h a comp y-ma drawin s Y In the. drawings; which illustrate ajpreferred embodi ent cf t e nvention:-

Fis- 1 san; el v t ons! v ew orthe valve a mb 'y of he r s nvention;

F s- 2 s, a e l ewt ic bstantial y on. e .7-2 f. .1;;

3 is a sectional view taken substantially i ne3-3 Qt :-,1..:

Fi is a view taken on ine -4 0 E a 3';

Fig. 5 is a view taken on line 5;.-5 of 3;

and I I Fi i a em tic e of a s tem, lm plo hr e; valv ssemb ies f 2 present invention, together with a diagram of the electrical system for;- operating' the same.

Referring to the drawing s in detail, the valve assembly comprises a housing Ill having an inlet. 12 and two.- outlets l4- and I6, respectively, with anintermediate-valve chamber 18. I

A shaft '20 is disposed substantially centrally of the. chamber, I8 and has its ends mounted for rotation in; bearing caps and 24 (Fig. 3). 'Ijhe cap 22 is secured in a recess in one wall oii the housingand the cap 24 is; secured in a plug 25 in the opposite wall of the housing It]. The caps are secured in place by peening over the edge of the metal about the caps, or in any other suit-- able manner. 'One' end of the shaft 20 is pointed, as shown in Fig. 3, whereby to engage the bottom of a recess in the plug 25 and its other end has a projecting portion 26. extending to the outside of the housing l0, where it is provided with a bell crank 28 pinned theretathe purpose of which will be described presently. The shaft 20 has portions 30 and 32 adjacent to, but spaced from its ends, which portions are qu r in cross-sect on i A rotor 34,, substantially U-shaped in, cross-sec tion, is supported by the shaft 20,, the flanges? of the rotor having square openings 36- and" 38* adapted to receive the square portions 30'- and 32, respectively, of theshaft 28, whereby rotary, or oscillatory, motion w-ill be imparted to the rotor upon rotation or oscillation of the shaft,-

. 3 and whereby the shaft is permitted to slide in the direction of its axis relative to the rotor, in the manner hereinafter described.

The rotor has an aperture in its cross-piece 39 for the reception of a stud 40, which is free to move in the aperture and which is threaded at one end and provided witha head at its other end. The studis screwed into, or otherwise securedto, a segmental valve member 42 and is provided with a compression spring 44 intermediate its head and the cross-piece 39 of the rotor.

The free ends of the flanges 4! of the U-shaped rotor 34 are held in spaced relation by means of a spacer sleeve 46 enclosing a pin 48, which also serves as a counterbalance for the valve member.

The valve member 42 is adapted to be moved radially away from the rotor under pressure of the medium, in the manner hereinafter described. The valve member has a transverse slot 50 for the reception of the cross-piece 39 of the rotor and in which the rotorisguided in its radial movementswhile at the same time preventing the rotor'from'pivotingon the-"stud 4U. The" valve I'nember alsohas two additionalparallel transverse recesses or grooves52'and 54 formed therein on either side of the recess 58. the purpose of which will be described hereinafter. r

A rotary solenoidifi is provided for imparting rotary motion to theshatt 20, which in turn rotates the rotor 34 and the valve member 42. The solenoid, when energized, causes its armature 58 to move inwardly thereof carrying with it a plate 60 which is secured thereto. The plate 60 has a series of arcuate depre'ssions'fi z' formed therein and the adjacent wall 64 of thesolenoid housing has complementary arcuate j depressions 66 formed therein for the reception bf steel balls 68. The depressions are each deeperatone end-than the-other, so that when the plate 60 is moved toward the solenoid, by the armature 58, rotary motion is imparted to the plate. The space between the plate 60 and the wall 64 of the solenoid is predetermined, whereby to limit the travel of the plate and consequently limit the rotary motion of the plate to 45.

The plateBil has a stud projecting from one face thereof in alignment with one arm of the bell crank28 which, as previously mentioned, is carried by the shaft '20.; The stud 10 is located on the plate 60 in'a predetermined eccentric position, whereby when the plate is rotated 45 the bell crank-28, the shaft 20, rotor 34 and thev-alve member 42 are'rotated 90 to move the valve member from the. full line position to the dotted.

line position, asshown in Fig. 2.

When in the position, shownin full lines in Fig.

2, the valve member isin position to close off the outlet l6 so that the fluid pressure medium will pass'from the inlet {2 through the'valve chamber and out of the outlet l4. When the'valve member is in;the dotted line; position, shown in Fig. 2, the fluid medium will pass, from, the inlet through the valve chamber and out of the outlet l6;

-When'fluid pressure medium enters the valve chamber, pressure is built up in the chamber because the discharge or distribution lines connected to the inlets have a smaller b'ore than the outlets, or the lines 'maybe provided with nozzles or the.like,which retard or restrict the flow of the medium. The built pressure in the valve chamber will act on the valve, member 42 and move the same radially relative to the rotor into close contact with its seat-atthe outlet. The

4 movement of the valve member is very slight, the radius of the member and the wall of the valve chamber being substantially equal except for a very slight tolerance suificient to permit the valve member to rotate freely in the chamber. When the valve member is forced on its seat at either outlet by the pressure of the medium, as just described, the side edges of the-member have a tendency to flex slightly due to the recesses 52 and 54, whereby a perfect fluid tight seal is provided at the outlet.

The pressure of the fluid medium on the valve member will retain the member in seated posi- I tion, so that it is not necessary to maintain the solenoid energized for that purpose. In other words, when the circuit to the solenoid is closed and the valve member operated to the selected position, the circuit may thereafter be opened without the valve member returning to its normal position, the latter being held in its selected position as long as the pressure of the fluid medium is retained in the valve chamber.

When the pressure on 'the valve member is released or reduced due to the discharge of the fluid through the distribution line, the bell crank 28 is returned to its normal position by means of a spring 12, one end of which is attached to a projecting pin 14 (Fig.4) on the bell crank andthe' other end toa stud in the housing), the spring 12 having been placed under tension when the bell crank was opera-ted through energization of the solenoid. When the bell crank returns to its normal position it in turn'rotates the shaft 20,

the rotor 34 and the valve member 42 to their In order to effectively form a-s'eal between the shaft 20 and the bearing cap 22 at the solenoid side of the valve housing, the shaft 211 s provided with a frustoconical shoulder 13 adapted to en gage a seat 15 formed in the bearing cap "22;- By

providing the sealing means 'just describedjpack ing for the bearing is rendered unnecessaryf-so that the valve assembly of'the present. invention,

is packless.

A system in which the valve assembly of the present invention may be employed is schemat ically illustrated, together therefor, in Fig. 6.

In the system illustrated, three of the valve assemblies are employed for the protection of four spaces, which spaces, in a fire extinguishing system for a four engine aircraft, may be the nacelles of the four engines. In this system, the centrally located valve assembly designated C is common to all of the distribution conduits leading to, the engines, but is normally open to the branch lines on the lefbflas viewed in Fig. 6.

Should a fire break out at the. engine designated "1 (Fig. 6), it is merely necessary to open'any-or all of the main release valves '16, whereupon the fire extinguishing medium will pass through the main conduit to and through the central orcom' mon direction valve Q and the left handdirection valve designated A, the latter valve being normally open to the branch line leading to engine No. 1.

Should a fire breakout at engine No. 2, thesource through line 80, the solenoid, line 82;.

with a wiring diagram valve member 90 from its normal position open to the outlet leadingtoenginesNos. l and 2, to,

close the latter outlet and open the outlet leading to engines Nos. 3 and f1: Thevalve of the valve assembly B is normally open to the branch line leading to engine No. 4, so that it is only necessary to operate valve C whereby to direct the fire extinguishing medium to that engine. This is accomplished by closing the switch designated 4, whereby current will flow from its source through lines 80 and 86, the solenoid of valve C, line 88, switch No. 4, and line 84 back to its source.

When it is desired to direct the medium to engine No. 3, it is necessary to operate the valve B, in addition to valve C. This is accomplished by closing the switch designated 3, whereby current will flow from its source through lines 80 and 90, the solenoid of valve B, line 92, switch 3 and line 84 back to its source. At the same time, current will flow from its source through lines 80 and 8'6, the solenoid of valve C, lines 88 and.

94, the switch member of the switch designated 4 (which is now in the position shown in Fig. 6), line 96, switch 3 and line 84 back to its source. so that upon closing the switch designated 3 the solenoids of both valves and B are operated to;

open the outlets of those valves leading to en gine No. 3.

The switches designated I, 2, 3, and 4 are mounted on a switch panel on the instrument board of the aircraft, and a pull cable, or other means (not shown), is within easy reach of the pilot or operator for operating the release valves As will be seen from Fig. 6, the switch designated I is dead, in that it is not. connected in any circuit. This switch is provided so that the operator, being trained to close a designated switch before opening the release valves, will first press the desired switch button for the direction valve to be operated and then open the release valve. The operator need not know that the switch designated I is dead, so that the instructions to the operator, to press the desired switch button before opening the release valve, need not, be confused by any exception to those general instructions.

By setting the selected valve in the desired position before opening the release valves, there will be no fluid pressure on the valve member to prevent its operation, or to require any excessive force to open the valve against pressure of the fluid, and accordingly the solenoids employed to operate the valve members may be of lightweight construction.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention provides a two-direction, packless, low torque valve assembly, wherein the valve member is operated before the application of pressure of the fluid medium, and wherein the operating force for the valve member is reduced to a minimum, resulting in a considerable saving of weight as compared with valve actuating mechanism heretofore employed, wherein the operating force necessarily required devices of considerably greater size and weight.

it will also be seen: from-the fo regoingrthat the use" of the valve assembly of the present invention results in a reduction or the: number of directional valves employed in, a; system, compared with the number of coriirention'al direc tior ial valves employed in such systems.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my'i-nvention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to that precise construction and; arrangement of parts, as obviously various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing fromthe spirit and scope" of my invention}.

I claim: 1

1. A valve assembly for controlling the flow of a fluid pressure medium, comprising a body having a valve chamber formed with an inlet and formed witha wall portion provided with a pair of spaced outlet ports, a valve member in said chamber having a surface facing said wall portion, a rotor in said chamber connected to said valve member for rotating said valve member to position the same to selectively close said outlet ports, and yieldable means for maintaining said valve member surface out of engagement with said chamber wall portion adapted to be rendered ineffective by pressure medium acting on said valve member from within said valve chamber whereby said'valve member surface is caused to engage said wall portion.

2. A valve assembly for controlling the flow of a fluid pressure medium, comprising a body having a valve chamber formed with an inlet and formed with a generally cylindrical wall portion provided with a pair of circumferentially spaced outlet ports, a valve member in said chamber having a generally cylindrical surface facing said wall portion, a rotor in said chamber connected to said valve member for rotating said valve member to position the same to selectively close said outlet ports, and yieldable means for maintaining said valve member surface out of engagement with said valve chamber wall portion adapted to be rendered ineffective by pressure medium acting on said valve member from within said valve chamber whereby said valve member surface is caused to engage said wall portion.

3. A valve assembly for controlling the flow of a fluid pressure medium, comprising a body having a valve chamber formed with an inlet and formed with a generally cylindrical wall portion having a generally cylindrical surface facing said wall portion, a rotor in said chamber, and means connecting said valve member for rotation with said rotor to enable said rotor to position said valve member for selectively closing said outlet ports, said connecting means including means for mounting said valve member for movement in a radial direction and a yieldable element arranged for maintaining said valve member surface out of engagement with said valve chamber wall portion and being rendered ineffective by pressure medium acting on said valve member from within said valve chamber whereby said valve member surface is caused to engage said wall portion.

4. A valve assembly according to claim 3,

wherein said means for mounting said valve 7 ed. on said stud and cooperating with said head and said rotor to urge said valve member radially inwardly to maintain said valve member surface out of engagement; with said valve chamber wall portion.

HARRY 0. GRANT, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: UNI TED STATES PATENTS Name Date Number Weber June 28, v18972 Number Number 340,236

Great Britain Q1 1930 

